The sadistic overlords let us go at three in the afternoon. By then, we were fainting with hunger, and I hoped that The Mystic Fig was a fantastic restaurant. Only the centaur, the faun, and the giant were waiting for us outside when we got there.

"What are you guys doing out here? Why didn't you wait for us inside the restaurant?"

"Centaurs aren't allowed inside," the centaur said.

"None of us are without the escort of a titled Lady." the faun said.

I gave the restaurant a dirty look. The attitude of this city reminded me of the stories of class and caste that plagued human history. Would they let me in, given my background?

"What happened to Artful R- err... I mean the pixie and the Satyr?"

The three of them stared at the ground.

"The constables took them before we could get them clothing. Xavian's mistress retrieved him - he is the Satyr.  Tylas, the pixie, is being held in jail for his attire." the faun said.

"Hah... geez...." I muttered. "Wait. Are you runaway slaves?"

The three men shook their heads.

"Only the Satyr was a runaway. Out mistresses cast us out for various reasons, but the Satyr was hiding. He took a chance in hopes that you'd say yes to having him," the faun said.

I leaned on Dominic as I tried to weigh the pros and cons of my current dilemma. "So, what I'm trying to find out is if you are technically still owned by someone? Will I need to pay someone to set you free?"

They looked at the ground again and nodded.

Okay. So cons? I had to spend money to get these guys on my team. I needed to make them my concubines if I wanted to take them along on my journey. Taking concubines meant letting go of more of my values to save people I didn't even know. Pros? They sounded like they had helpful abilities. They'd be loyal, and they promised to work. I'd have more people and thus more of a chance. Plus, I could help them have a better life. Just because they had the title of a concubine didn't mean I'd have to do anything with them. I could set them free once I did this.

I realized my pros resembled justifications for making a terrible choice more than they resembled sound logic. It also brought up more questions.

"Hey, Luke, how did Marisol and Regina get those new people to be a part of their court? I thought the Becoming ceremony included everyone."

"The Becoming unites the Elect and her consorts. You can enact other bindings with banmuinen and concubines after the fact, in proxy of the goddess, through the blessing each Elect possesses. "

I puffed my cheeks out then released the air in a whoosh at him. "You need to sit with me and tell me all these rules and exceptions at once. Let's do it tonight."

"Very well," Luke said, and there was a spark in his eyes as though that had been his plan all along.

"So..." I looked at the three creatures. "Are you guys hungry? Can we get a table by a window so that —" I pointed at the centaur, "What's your name? Err... not your true name, just the one you usually go by?"

"My name is Brin." He bowed low to me by kneeling on his front two legs.

"Brin — so that Brin can talk to us through the window."

"I'm sure we can, Princess. The restaurant doesn't appear busy."

"Yeah... If I didn't believe that every other restaurant had the same crappy policies, I'd say that we should go someplace else."

I spoke to the host with a grimace because of the possibility that this might not be such a great choice. She initially didn't want to let the faun and giant into the restaurant, and it took a few gold coins and my status to get her to give in to my request. She opened the window near an empty table, and we sat down with Brin outside. We traded names, and I found out that the faun was Rielte, and the half-giant was Noc.

When the server brought bread for our large party, the three men tore into it, practically choking as they stuffed it into their mouths. My heart rent in two.

Luis rolled his eyes at me and tore apart a roll until it was confetti on his plate. He'd tried to get me to talk to him three times after I walked away from him at the grounds. If I took my guard down, I was sure I'd feel his rage. He hated that I was going through with this, I could tell.

"Whoa, slow down, kids," Dominic said as he pounded the back of the faun, who started coughing. He glanced at me, and I saw pity in his eyes. Yeah, and I knew how he felt. It looked like they ate nothing while I was training, but fortunately, they were wearing decent clothes now. Even the centaur was at least wearing a tunic over the human part of his body and a blanket over the horse half. The frost giant wore a blue robe, which was a vast improvement compared to the shimmery gold bodysuit.

"So, what's involved with helping these guys out?" I asked Luke.

"Since they were thrown away, you must visit the temple and pay for their redemption. Once you redeem these males, they are yours. But, Madeline, we hardly have the time to waste in saving them. "

"You saw the gigantic teams the other two have. I think that puts us at a disadvantage. At least with the centaur, we have extra transportation.  Plus,  I consider having survival knowledge and ice capabilities to be useful," I said, as I considered the three men, completely doubting they'd be of any use at all as weak as they were. But I wanted to be optimistic about this!

"How about we accept these three? I don't think we can do much for the other two, not right now anyway." Dominic said. He was giving the faun his share of the stew the waitress brought us, and I could tell that he had already adopted the young goat-man.

"You know, I was against it until I saw those massive teams, Matt, but I realize you got a point. Let's help them out." Adrian said. "Besides, I bet my man Rielte here is an awesome mountain climber, and he could teach us."

"Yes!" Rielte nodded emphatically. "I am an expert climber. All my knowledge is yours, My Lady!"

"Hmm... you have the letters as well, Princess. Plus, I suggest you consider Éowyn, the guard. Having such an ancient ally would only do you good for the next trial," Ciaran said.

"More guys??" I shook my head.

"Think of the other courts, My Lady. It's best to not be at a disadvantage." Elsie said.

Jeanne was staring at Brin with a smile on her face, "I agree, My Lady. Plus, I would very much like to get to know them since I've never spoken to spring fae like these."

"Spring Fae?"

"Oh yes, My Lady. These are Fae that belong to the court of Spring which Ciaran rules."

I looked at Ciaran as he nodded with resignation, "After the wars between us Trees, all of my citizens were made beholden to Lars; as such, the country takes slaves from us regularly."

"Oh..." I hadn't understood what he was talking about with Duir. "You lost the war, then?" My brow creased in sympathy as I looked at them. "That doesn't give her the right just to enslave you all."

Ciaran just shrugged as he popped a grape into his mouth and gave me a sad smile.

"Leaving the letters from the ceremony aside for now," I continued as I shuddered over the thought of more men wanting to be in my harem, "I'll accept you three. After the trial, if I can, I'll help the pixie and the Satyr... and maybe consider the men who wrote the letters..." I pinched the bridge of my nose. Should I call myself a sultan and start building a seraglio? "Just so we're clear, I'm not purchasing you guys.; I'm setting you free. You'll only be concubines in name, not, uh... action." I blushed.

Then the three men cried and thanked me profusely. After we finished with the meal, I went to the temple. There was much laughter at our expense when they found I was accepting "animals" into my court. Despite the jeers, I became twelve hundred gold coins lighter and had three new members of my court. I also had papers legally making them mine. No matter how I had justified it, I had bought them. I looked at the official documents like they were covered in the blood of a thousand slaves, and my hands were red from them.

I was crumpling the papers until Luke rescued them and put them in the brown leather satchel he was wearing.

With the papers out of my hand, I looked at the three hopeful faces. Then I glanced at Ciaran and Luke. "So, how do I make them my concubines?"

"They make an oath always to protect you. 'Your body is my body, your heart is my heart, forever to protect.' Then you tie a string bracelet on each of their arms and cut the strings when you no longer want them. Your seal will appear after you put on the bracelet, and you kiss the seal, like before," Luke said with obvious displeasure.

I wouldn't say I liked the incantation, but I took comfort that it would be temporary. "I don't have any bracelets, so I guess we can't do this until I get them."

"There's just one thing here, Matt. Something even our dear Luke overlooked, which was surprising seeing as he was so dead set against this." Ciaran said with a grin.

"What now?" I gave him the stink-eye.

"Well, you only have twenty acorns, Matt."

"So?"

"Ten forward and ten back. Seven for you and your consorts, three for your banmuinen."

"So I get more then."

He pealed with laughter. "You think they will give you more? Matt, they want you to fail. We all know it, but you're still so precious in thinking anyone here will play fair with you. You are impure to all but to us and a few of the citizens here. They are more likely to throw rocks at you in the temple, then hand you more precious acorns."

"Well, I'm going to ask, anyway. Better to ask than walk away without even trying."

Then I went into the temple and asked. I asked as nicely as you please.

And... they turned me down. Of course, they did.

Not only did I get turned down, but they laughed at me and called me an 'animal lover.' I didn't think they were speaking of my ASPCA membership. I could not believe that these proper-looking ladies could be so crude.

Ciaran was still laughing as I stomped back down the hundreds of steps. "I told you so, Princess."

So he did, and I grimaced at him for rubbing it in. "I'll do the thing anyway since I might be able to use them for the next trial. Let's get going. Uh, but how do we get Brin home with us?"

"You need not worry, My Lady. I can have a man's legs."

His form shimmered, and the blanket fell away from him.

"Yo! Warn everyone next time, dog!" Adrian hollered as he spun from Brin, who was now a half-naked human-looking man.

"Oh, my stars!" Dominic cried as he pulled his shirt up to hide his face.

I covered my eyes with my hands and turned away. The centaur was impressive from a male standpoint. When I turned my head slightly as if to peek, Luis put his arm around me and added his hands to mine.

"Don't even think about it, Matt."

"I wasn't going to look."

Much.

"He's decent. My goodness, Matt, I don't think I've ever seen that color of red on you. It looks lovely with your amazing eyes." Ciaran laughed at me some more. I don't think he would stop anytime soon. Then he handed the centaur a necklace. "Keep this stasis necklace, for it will allow you to keep your form longer."

"Where do you get that, Ciaran?" The man didn't carry anything with him, and his pants were too skinny to put anything more than a piece of paper in the pockets.

"Mm... from a friend. She has amazing gifts." 

I suddenly felt a pang of jealousy and wondered who this friend was.

I was finally allowed to turn around, and the centaur was staggering on two human legs —and wearing pants. I swatted at my disappointment. Down, girl.

"It's very taxing for a centaur to remain with two legs. Their mass gets compressed by the transfiguration. So, we need to hurry home now, unless you want to go through with the concubine oath, hmm?" Ciaran said.

I rubbed my face with my hands. "Let's go home for now and bring them with us. As I said, I don't have the bracelets."

As we got into our cars, Luke whispered to me, "I have not forgotten that I owe you a trip to the cemetery. We will take a walk there when we get home."